by | Jun 3, 2024 2:14 pm | Comments (15)
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Paras speaking up at a recent school board meeting.
The following opinion essay was submitted by Ashley Stockton, a New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) teacher and parent and city resident who currently teaches kindergarten at Truman School.
by | Jun 3, 2024 2:06 pm | Comments (1)
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Student rep-elect Jonaily Colon (right) and challenger Vikram Dalal after Friday's election.
High School in the Community (HSC) sophomore Jonaily Colon prevailed in her bid to bring the voice of smaller high schools to the city’s Board of Education — after winning a school board student representative election to replace graduating Wilbur Cross High School senior Harmony Cruz-Bustamante.
by | May 31, 2024 1:45 pm | Comments (9)
New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Chief Operating Officer Thomas Lamb has been placed on paid administrative leave.
by | May 31, 2024 11:50 am | Comments (1)
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Truman sixth graders Jovanni Sanchez, Julian Torres, and Kayden Williams.
Twins Marin and Kana are left behind on a dystopian island that alternates between 14 years of sunlight and 14 years of nightfall.
The long sun is about to set — and Marin and Kana are not alone.
What happens next? Pulitzer Prize-winning local author Jake Halpern wouldn’t say. Truman School sixth graders Jovanni Sanchez, Julian Torres, and Kayden Williams had some ideas of their own.
by | May 29, 2024 6:13 pm | Comments (6)
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Kindergarten reading levels: Going up, up, up?
New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Superintendent Madeline Negrón has her eyes set on bringing kindergarteners’ literacy proficiency rates up from the current 18 percent to 80 percent by 2029 — as one of many goals included in the district’s new five-year strategic plan.
by | May 27, 2024 9:04 am | Comments (20)
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Cross Principal Brown: "The job of the teacher has never been harder."
Wilbur Cross Principal Matt Brown has a math problem to solve:
How do you lead a school where the building’s capacity is for 1,300 students, its enrollment tops 1,700, and the number of students who actually show up to class each day is somewhere in between — given the district’s persistent struggles with chronic absenteeism?
Brown’s answers: Get creative, share classrooms, celebrate student diversity, and encourage a sense of belonging and school pride among students and teachers alike at New Haven’s largest public school.
Continue reading ‘Cross Principal Adapts To Overenrolled School’
by | May 24, 2024 2:17 pm | Comments (24)
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At Cross Friday morning: Education Justice Organizer Megan Fountain and Cross staffers Mia Comulada Breuler, Cordell Wallace, and Gwendolyn Bright.
(Updated) “What do we want? Fully-funded schools! When do we want it? Now!”
Those chants echoed down Mitchell Drive Friday morning as New Haven students, teachers, and paraprofessionals kicked off a day of action to rally support for increased funding for the city’s public schools.
Continue reading ‘Teachers, Students Rally For Schools Budget Bump’
by | May 24, 2024 9:31 am | Comments (2)
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Leonaya Knox: Next stop, Georgia Southern.
Less than a day after Hillhouse High School track star Leonaya Knox broke a 25-year state record for 100-meter hurdles, she signed paperwork before a cheering crowd of family, friends, and peers to declare her commitment to becoming a Division I student athlete at Georgia Southern University.
Continue reading ‘5 Hillhouse Athletes Declare College Picks’
by and | May 23, 2024 2:04 pm | Comments (5)
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The following writeup was submitted by Hillhouse High School history teacher Kate Goodwin and Hillhouse Assistant Principal Jonathan Q. Berryman.
Continue reading ‘Witness Stone Honors Enslaved New Havener’
by | May 22, 2024 8:07 am | Comments (6)
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This work just got a whole lot more expensive for NHPS.
The cost of clearing the first inch of snow from New Haven’s public school properties during winter storms jumped from around $19,000 to more than $49,000 this year — thanks to what one Board of Education-hired contractor described as spikes in the costs of fuel, insurance, and maintaining worn-down snow removal equipment.
Continue reading ‘Snow Removal Costs Climb After Change Orders, Re-Bid Contracts’
by | May 21, 2024 1:21 pm | Comments (0)
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Imani Bryan and Alexis Aguirre unpacking first AP African American Studies class.
After learning about everything from Africa’s Mali Empire to Black rebellion during Reconstruction to the history of slave codes and slave ships and convict leasing — and with coursework still to come on the Black Panther Party and the Black Arts Movement — Career High School senior Eliana Brito Castillo praised her school’s inaugural Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies class as opening her eyes to “a huge part of history that isn’t taught.”
“Now,” she said, “I feel I have a more complete view of how America came to be.”
Continue reading ‘African American Studies Class Finishes First Year’
by | May 17, 2024 11:51 am | Comments (9)
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One of many Bishop Woods student awardees Seth Middleton ...
... at crowded Florence Caldwell Title I Award ceremony.
Students, parents, teachers, and administrators packed Career High School’s auditorium to celebrate middle schoolers for their academic growth this year in such areas as reading, math and science — and to honor the many adults who work tirelessly to make that learning possible.
Continue reading ‘Hundreds Honored For Succeeding At School’
by | May 15, 2024 12:01 pm | Comments (3)
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Holly Maxson: From Waterbury to New Haven.
A former digital arts teacher and school musical theater director who currently serves as the top arts admin for Waterbury Public Schools will soon step into a similar supervisory role in the New Haven Public Schools district.
by | May 15, 2024 8:34 am | Comments (16)
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Hillhouse's Antoine Billy: Will be back in August.
Not quite three months into his new top job, Hillhouse High School Principal Antoine Billy has taken up a bet with some of his staff — that he will be returning to Hillhouse at the end of summer break, and that he won’t make the school find its sixth principal in less than three years.
If Billy wins that bet — which, he promised this reporter, he’s 100 percent sure he will — he plans to celebrate with a glazed Krispy Kreme donut in August. And a successful school year to follow.
by | May 14, 2024 8:20 am | Comments (1)
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District award winner Sanchita Dollin (center) with librarian Kim Rogers, Clifford, NHPS Supt. Madeline Negrón, and Scholastic's Liz Price.
The following write-up was submitted by New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) spokesperson Justin Harmon about Monday’s celebration of Supt. Madeline Negrón’s Reading Challenge.
by | May 13, 2024 3:41 pm | Comments (60)
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At a Career High class about race and America.
New Haven is hustling to find more white, Asian, and suburban kids for three inter-district magnet schools — or else face a potential fine for having too many students enrolled who are Black, Hispanic, and from the city.
by | May 10, 2024 8:53 am | Comments (2)
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Ari checks out a preserved black swallowtail butterfly.
In the school’s garden space, Clinton Avenue School fifth-grader Ari brought a magnifier close to a green, rounded leaf plucked from a dandelion and discovered tiny pearls — better known as caterpillar eggs.
She did so as part of an outdoor lesson led by Common Ground’s Schoolyards Program educator Melissa Fredricksen.
Continue reading ‘Students Break From Chrysalis Into Garden World’
by | May 10, 2024 8:50 am | Comments (4)
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Angel Mercado, Luis Diaz, and Joel Tolman on Thursday.
Walking to school is going to become a lot safer in the near future for students like Common Ground seniors Angel Mercado and Luis Diaz, as a half mile of new sidewalks connecting Brookside Estates and other developments with their Springside Avenue charter school are en route — as part of a suite of traffic safety improvements coming to the semi-rural West Rock corner of the city.
Continue reading ‘1 Small Step For Safety. 1 Giant Leap For West Rock’
by | May 9, 2024 1:35 pm | Comments (3)
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Miriam Camacho, back at FAME with her new book.
Former Principal Miriam Camacho returned to her old school in Fair Haven to encourage students to always hold on to their home cultures — and, when possible, to make sofrito from scratch.
by | May 8, 2024 8:06 am | Comments (5)
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Juniors Josh, Radwaa, and A'Mere map out the Salvadoran Civil War.
Hill Regional Career High School junior Josh Burgess wrote the words “causes and effects of Salvadoran Civil War 1980s” inside a circle, and then drew lines connecting the words “historic inequality,” “murder,” and “oligarchs” to that circle.
He did so as part of an African American and Latino studies course that encourages students to understand how different parts of world history relate to one another — and that builds off of recent state legislation designed to boost the diversity of topics covered in Connecticut social studies classrooms.
by | May 8, 2024 8:01 am | Comments (15)
Outside King Robinson during April 2's primary.
Because classes were closed for last month’s presidential primaries, the last day of school for New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) this year will be Monday, June 17 rather than Friday, June 14.
by | May 6, 2024 6:10 pm | Comments (15)
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Mayor Justin Elicker serves up ice cream floats...
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... alongside Superintendent Madeline Negron, for "Staying Afloat" teacher gratitude event.
Fair Haven School teachers took a quick break from keeping students afloat for the remainder of the school year — to receive thanks and complimentary root beer floats from the mayor and superintendent, as part of National Teacher Appreciation Week.
Continue reading ‘Fair Haven Teachers Thanked With Ice Cream & Soda’
by | May 3, 2024 3:27 pm | Comments (9)
Planned new adult ed center on Bassett St., to open in June 2026.
More than 120 students are expected to graduate next month from New Haven’s Adult & Continuing Education Center — which is back open for in-person classes on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, after flooding caused the school’s now-repaired main building to close for nearly three months at the end of last year.
by | May 2, 2024 9:21 am | Comments (0)
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Melissa Rodriguez stays rooted to El Salvador family gardening memories.
As New Haven Academy junior Melissa Rodriguez planted pink and red “Busy Lizzies” at school, she thought back fondly on the days of helping her grandmother in El Salvador tend to her vibrant flower garden and fruit trees.
That was the scene Wednesday afternoon as New Haven Academy students worked to liven up the school’s garden beds as part of a week of environmental activities at the 444 Orange St. magnet high school.
by | Apr 26, 2024 1:54 pm | Comments (1)
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Class of 2024 tree planted by John Martinez student council.
John Martinez School eighth grader Roselyn Sampedro’s dream to stay rooted to her middle school forever came to fruition Friday as she helped plant a crabapple tree — in honor of the Class of 2024, and to celebrate Arbor Day.
Continue reading ‘Class-Honoring Trees Take Root At Martinez’